Improvement in hand corn-planters



JAMES M. HARRISON, 10F

sPAarANBunc, INDIANA.

l Letters Patent No. 111,202, dated January V211, 1871-.

lMPROVEMENT IN HAND CORN-PLANTERS.

The Schedule referred to in these Lettere Patent andmaking 'part ol' the same.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES M. Hannrson, of Spartanburg, in the county 'of Randolph and State ot Indiana, have invented certain Improvements in Hand Corn llanter,4 of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to certain improvements'in that class of hand corn-planters Aconsisting of two boards or levers, hinged together at their lower ends, gid provided withA handles, a seed-slide, seed-hopper,

c. The invention consists in placing the handles by which vthe planter is held and operated at right auf gies to each other;` in providing the seed-slide with a springarm and an outside guard-plate; in attaching a lip between the lower ends of the levers, to

- hold the corn while the planter is being-forced' into the ground; and in securing certain blocks in the bottom of the hopper to guide thev slide and relieve it from pressure. 1

Figure 1 represents a verticai'section of my planter, taken on the line :c c; of iig. 3;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the planter;

Figure 3, a top plan view of the same; and

Figure 4, a cross-section of the seed-siidc andhopper-bottom.

The body of my planter I construct -n the common and well-known manner by taking a dat wooden strip or bar, A, and attaching to its edges two cheekpieces C, and pivoting between these cheek-pieces a second bar orlever,l D, and also attaching to the back side ofthe lever A a seed-hopper, B, as shown inigs.

vland 2.

Heretofore it has been usual to provide the upper enti of each of the levers with a handle by which 4such positions in operating the planter as to render the operation exceedingiytiresome and laborious.

This diiculty I avoid `by placing the two handles at right angles to each other, as shown in iig. 3, by which simple change the planter is rendered much easier and less tiresome ,to operate.

Through the lower end of 'the l1opper-BI make a horizontal opening and linsert therein a seed-slide, F, having a vertical opening, f,- through it nearthe middle, and passthe end ofA this slide through the lever D and insert a pin, t, therein on each side of the lever, as shown in figs. 1 and'2, so that, as the levers A Dare closed together and drawn apart, the seed-slide is givena reciprocating motion in the hopper.

By this motion of the slide, its hole or seed-cell f is carried within the hopper and filled. with corn, and then drawn out andthe corn allowed to fall out the lower side into the tube formed by the le- .versl A D and cheek-pieces G, and so on, continu- Asa kernel of corn in the 4cell f is liable to project above the slide, and to bind or catch as the.

slide is drawn outward, and lthus crack the-kernel or prevent the slide from operating, Iattach to the upper side of the seed-slide E a spring, g, having its free end bent 'downward into, and so as to forni one side of, the hole or cell f, as shown in fig. 1.

The wood belowthe spring I cut away, as shown in iigs. 1 and 4, so'vthat when a projecting kernel of' corn binds, the spring will yield and let the kernel drop down and the slide move freely. K

To prevent the spring g, when compressed, from throwing-the corn upward' when the slide is drawn out, I attach to the lever A a guardpiate, c, which rests dat upon top of the slide, as shown in figs; 1 and 2, and thereby prevents the corn from being discharged except ou the under side.

In the bottom of the hopper I secure three blocks, m m and n, forthe purpose of guiding the slide and relieving it, -in part, from the weight of the mass of corn above.

I also provide tiieslide with the usual adjustable slide d, for rarying` the size of the seed-cell f, and thereby the quantity of corn discharged each time.-

To the lower end of -lever A, on the inside, bef tween itand lever D, I secure a lip, k, which retains the corn at that point while the end or nose of the planter is being forced into the ground, so that when the nose of the planter is opened the' corn has only a short distance, to fail, and, consequently, allows the planter' tobe operated morejrapidly than in the oid style, where it was necessary to wait until the corn fell all theway from the slide.

By this contrivance it will be seen that when the lower ends of the levers are opened andi a charge of .corn ldroppedfrom the'lip k, the siide'is moved inward and reiled, and upon closing the levers the charge of cornAis dropped onto the lip kfrom the slide, and that when 'this last chargeis drofpped from the lip the sii'de is again relled, andso on, a charge of corn being always heid close to the ground.

kIn 'operating vmy planter the upper ends` v.of the levers A D are drawn apart, and the lower end of the planter forcedinto the ground, and the levers closed together, so as to deposit the corn into the hole formed 'by' the end of the planter. The planter'is then l lifted up, the levers drawn-apart, and the previous operation repeated.

Theplanter thus constructed is strong, cheap, and

simple, and. may be operated-with great ease and ra- 2Q The detanerplate, or lip 7c, arranged between pidity. the levers A and D, near their lower end, as de- Having thus described my invention, scribefh for the resent-,ion of the charge of grain, as What I claim is set forth. y 1. @he combination of the levers A and D with 'JAMES M. HARRISON.

'che'l slide E, having the Spring plate g applied thereto, Witnesses:

and the guard-plate c, all arranged to operate as de- A. J. DoWING,

scribed. y WM. A. MILLER. 

